"In September at a local warehouse, there was a weekend fire sale of movie props and old books, run by a Polish company leaving Ireland. Cash only and amid the piles of books, I found a little gem and almost perfect book from 1897 with a neat little dedication in fountain pen on the fly leaf. It cost me five euros.

My curiosity found the better of me and a few days later in heavy rain, I swung the car around to the warehouse. There were two skips outside the building full of unsold items. Uncovered. Getting destroyed in the rain. Dumped.

I couldn’t believe it.

Getting out, I rummaged around a skip and found a first edition Norman Mailer’s The Naked and the Dead. A UK first edition from Allan Wingate circa 1949. The spine had come away and the cover badly stained and water-logged. I found this sight depressing.

But I took it anyway. No one wanted it, but I decided to bring it home.

I decided to give it a home."